Owensboro city leaders work to avoid water crisis, talk of proposed water plant

A proposal to build a new water plant in Owensboro has been around for more than four years, but after people got a taste of that water outage, city commissioners are hopeful plans to build a new one will move forward (WFIE)

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) -

Owensboro city leaders are working to avoid another water crisis like the major water main break last week. They want the Owensboro Municipal Utilities Plant where it happened to be replaced.

A proposal to build a new water plant in Owensboro has been around for more than four years, but after people got a taste of that water outage, city commissioners are hopeful plans to build a new one will move forward.

Plant A, where the water main break occurred, was built in 1907 and is suffering settling problems within the building.

Commissioner Larry Conder made a push for a new plant at the last city meeting.

"Now is the time to make it better for the rest of our community for a long time," Conder said. "All of us together."

Other commissioners agree.

"The plant, if you were to go in it, is decrepit," said Commissioner Bob Glenn. "It's old. So it needs to be replaced."

OMU told us there are plans in the works to replace Plant A by adding to the existing Cavin Plant.

However, OMU is in debt and could struggle with this project which could cause an increase in rates across Daviess County.

"I would hope that the rates that are brought before the city commission actually is fazed in over a period of time instead of just sticker shock," Conder said. "No one likes that."

At this point, the decision and planning are up to OMU.

"So this is a decision that won't just amplify over the next decade," Glenn said. "It will probably be a decision that will impact Owensboro's growth and our planning for the next half-century."

The project would cost over $40 million.

Glenn believes they could see a proposal for the water plant construction in the next 12 to 18 months.